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Premiere of "Windjammer" at the newly built Empire-Cinérama-Théâtre
Abel Gance in Paris

The very successful Cinemiracle movie "Windjammer: The Voyage of the
Christian Radich" (USA), French title "La Grande Rencontre", had its World
Premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Tuesday, April 8,
1958.

It debuted in Europe at Oslo's Colosseum Theatre on Friday, April 25, 1958 –
in London's West End at the Odeon, Tottenham Court Road, on Wednesday,
May14, 1958 – in Germany at Munich's Royal-Palast on Tuesday, July 22, 1958
– in Sweden at the Vinterpalatset (the Winterpalace) on Thursday, September
4, 1958 – and in Denmark at the Århus Hallen (a multi-purpose facility) on
Monday, December 1, 1958.

In France, in Paris, "Windjammer" opened relatively late at the newly
reconstructed, now named Empire-Cinérama-Théâtre Abel Gance on Monday,
February 5, 1962.

An extract from an article written in "New York VARIETY" dated Wednesday,
February 21, 1962:

Paris, February 13 – Cinerama's recently-acquired Cinemiracle film
"Windjammer" (USA, 1958) opened at the new Empire "Abel Gance" Theatre last
Monday, February 5. The new house took a year to build at a cost of around
$1,000,000. It has 1,200 seats and a 30-by-100 foot screen. Nicolas Reisini,
Cinerama's president, also has instituted a yearly gold medal, his personal
Oscar, for the best technical advances in filmmaking. First Oscar went to
French film pioneer Abel Gance after whom the house was named because of his
first use of the triple screen in his silent film "Napoléon" (France, 1927),
and his work on three screen setups.

Roland Lataille's
website
informs about the old and the newly constructed fantastic venues. (Note in one of the
images the soldiers of Napoleon in homage to the invited Mr. Abel Gance)

"LA
GRANDE RENCONTRE". Between the gentlemen Nicolas Reisini (president of
Cinerama, Inc.) and Georges Peynet (the theatre's architect) is sitting Abel
Gance – the star guest of the wonderful evening. (Image taken from the trade
magazine "La Cinématographie Française" dated February 1962)

Author's note: There are unfortunately a lot of mistakes in the movie's
description (see image): 1.) the runtime of 85 minutes – 142 minutes are
given, including overture, intermission and exit music, 2.) Pill Colleran
must be Bill Colleran, 3.) James L. Shutte must be James L. Shute, 4.)
Captain Ynguar Kjelstrup must be Captain Yngvar Kjelstrup.

The movie ran at the Empire-Cinerama-Theatre for 42 weeks until Monday,
November 26, 1962, followed by "How the West Was Won" (USA, 1962). According
information from "La Cinématographie Française" (see in the image below) a
total of 238.307 people saw the movie at the time.

A short article written in "La Cinématographie Française" dated Saturday,
February 10, 1962: (translated into English language – the French article is
below)

(The Great Encounter) of "Cinemiracle"

On Monday, Feburary 5, 1962, "Cinemiracle" opened the new "Abel Gance Empire
Theatre" with the new film by Louis de Rochemont, "Windjammer" (La Grande Rencontre). Many guests, surrounded by Empire veterans, flocked to the
premiere in honour of Abel Gance. In particular, the event was attended by
Mssrs Herzog and Bokanovski, the ambassadors of the USSR, Great Britain,
Norway and Finland, Marcel Carné, Roger Hanin, Aristoteles Onassis, Bernhard
Buffet, Henri Salvador…

Mr Reisini, the man behind the Cinerama, then called forward Abel Gance and
awarded him the Cinerama Gold Medal, and Georges Peynet, who designed and
built the cinema, to whom he presented the Cinerama Silver Medal.
Abel Gance was very moved by the lengthy round of applause he received. This
tribute paid to the illustrious precursor of triple projection is to the
credit of Mr Reisini, as is his adventurous nature which has enabled
millions of cinema-goers to discover Cinerama. "What do I think of Cinerama now?" said Abel Gance –
"I think there is a
greater distance between Cinema and Cinerama than there is between a
propeller-driven plane and a jet plane, and we can see that the latter is
killing the former off in an irreversible struggle. I will try to play a
useful role in this evolution of its particular technique with the
Super-Cinerama. With new input, we will undoubtedly manage to bring my old
dream to life."

Georges Peynet, for his part, has made a real success of the new Empire-Abel
Gance, scrupulously adhering to the requirements and constraints of the
Cinerama technique, obtaining a strictly horizontal projection, with the
three rays each forming a 48° angle.
The concave surface of the 10 x 30 metre screen stretches from floor to
ceiling and from one wall to the other. The room is reminiscent of a huge
beige Etruscan vessel; the (ICAM) hangings are made of glass silk, while the
chairs, wall coverings, ceilings and paintings over the balcony are
deliberately monochrome. The 900 seats in the stalls and the 300 on the
balcony all give a perfect view.
An especially remarkable feature is an original chandelier measuring five
metres in diameter (author's note: That must have been in the theatre's
large lobby – see the image on Roland Lataille's
website). It is made up of
3,000 gold metal pendants and lit by spotlights which are hidden from the
spectators’ eyes… (Argus)

An
advert in "La Cinématographie Française" from February 1962 that gives
information about the newly built Super-Cinérama Empire-Théâtre Abel Gance.
It is a correction by the architect Georges Peynet. "The movie theatre is
equipped with stage curtains and wall hangings by "La Société Marocaine de
Constructions Mécaniques" – and not, as mistakenly attributed in our "Spécial",
by I*C*A*M –réalisateur, on the other hand, of Cinérama Europe No 1."